Coomar’s Shiv Mandir At Bally

Kinjal Bose

Bally located in the Howrah district of West Bengal is home to several old temples of varying shapes and sizes. Among the myriad of temples, Jagadishwar Shiv Mandir founded by Ramdhan Coomar and Nakuleswar Shiv Mandir founded by Krishnadhan Coomar deserve a special mention.

Ramdhan and Krishnadhan are sons of Bhairav Chandra Coomar. These two shiva temples are built on a raised platform and placed side by side. The temples are situated opposite to a pond known as Coomar (Kumar) Lake. The temple premise is located at 15, Kali Prasanna Coomar (Kumar) Street which was earlier referred to as Sen para.

According to the foundation plaque, the temples were founded on 24 Baisakh, 1286 Bangabda, which according to Gregorian calendar translates to May 8, 1879. That makes these temples 145 years old at present. According to the two ‘pratisthalipis’, both the temples were inaugurated on the same date. The temples follow the traditional Bengali aatchala (eight roofed) style of architecture.

The Shiva lingams are made of kasthi pathar (touch stone), and, according to Mr. Amal Coomar, only the priest can worship the linga by offering water. On the day of Shivaratri, the devotees offer water on the wood present in the temple sanctum and they are not allowed to touch the linga.

One interesting aspect about the temple is the brick with which it was built – the bricks are of different shapes and sizes and they were prepared according to the requirement, which is unique. The twin temples have retained their old charm till date. It was told that vaastu sap or snake lives on the backside of the temple, though none have seen it; but claims that the snake is white in colour and doesn’t harm anybody.

The Coomar Lake located just opposite to the temples is pretty deep with crystal clear water. Mr. Coomar informed that on three separate occasions they have taken the initiative to build a wall surrounding the pond but in each of the cases, the wall somehow collapsed.

Your trip to Bally will remain incomplete without a visit to these Shiva temples.